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jk

We saw a few of these starts early in the year – a symphony of snapping rims minus the brass – but Melo kept the kettle cooking long into the night. There are more than a few reasons to savor this one, but what made Melo’s performance uniquely remarkable was that he just stayed in fourth gear the whole time — a top-down joyride down the PCH. The bullish drives, follows, spin cycles – cameos none. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, came on jumpers. Jumpers from the wing; jumpers from the corner; jumpers turning around on the baseline; jumpers spinning away from multiple defenders; jumpers made despite getting hit in the face; jumpers made leaning into defenders. Insanity.

Seriously, I’m barely this accurate peeing in my own toilet. As our good friend Kevin Mackerallroy points out, this KIND of shooting performance – this many points on this many shots without the aid of trips to the stripe – has literally only happened one other time since 1986. You don’t want to know.

So let’s just end it there, shall we? Let it age with the night. Remarkable.

63 comments on “jk”

Positives: Very strong team defender, can hedge and recover on pick and rolls, excellent rotation at times and has the foot speed of a fast small forward, probably one of the more ideal players to have on a team that switches, has always had more impact in playoffs because of physical play,years as defensive signal caller, smart on both ends of court, underrated passer, real tough guy/enforcer, emotional leader, considered by some to be great teammate.

Negatives: poor rebounder for a power forward, below average free throw and jump shooter, limited post game but can exploit smaller defenders, inefficient offensively, plays with edge that can get him in a lot of trouble, extremely unfriendly with media. Considered by some to be a horrible teammates (Alonzo Mourning).

“He expects coaches to be prepared. He expects his teammates to compete at the same high level that he does,” Olshey continued. “The one thing about Kenyon, if guys are not performing and are not as intense or focused on playing winning basketball, he’s not reluctant to let them know about it. And I think that can be misperceived at times.”

In a very physical first-round series with the Memphis Grizzlies, Martin played a major role off the bench in the Clippers’ success. He came up big in Game 7 at Memphis, with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. He averaged 1.9 blocks per game in the series.

“We don’t win the Memphis series [without Martin] and we certainly wouldn’t have finished as high as fifth in the Western Conference without Martin,” Olshey said. “His ability to impact the game by guarding multiple positions, switching pick-and-rolls, blocking shots and protecting the rim was an element we really didn’t have and it made us unique. I was thrilled with Kenyon in Los Angeles. He was a good teammate.”

“He expects coaches to be prepared. He expects his teammates to compete at the same high level that he does,” Olshey continued. “The one thing about Kenyon, if guys are not performing and are not as intense or focused on playing winning basketball, he’s not reluctant to let them know about it. And I think that can be misperceived at times.”

In a very physical first-round series with the Memphis Grizzlies, Martin played a major role off the bench in the Clippers’ success. He came up big in Game 7 at Memphis, with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. He averaged 1.9 blocks per game in the series.

“We don’t win the Memphis series [without Martin] and we certainly wouldn’t have finished as high as fifth in the Western Conference without Martin,” Olshey said. “His ability to impact the game by guarding multiple positions, switching pick-and-rolls, blocking shots and protecting the rim was an element we really didn’t have and it made us unique. I was thrilled with Kenyon in Los Angeles. He was a good teammate.”

Warkentein wasn’t hot on his trail for nothing. You can find these kinds of quotes from Karl, Chapman, Vandeweghe, King, Scott, Frank et al. He is misperceived. The guy has been the backbone of basically every team he’s played on.

I can’t believe the Lakers stayed put, and that Bucks trade — why do the Bucks want Redick? Of all teams to go after him, the Bucks are probably the least well-suited to play him with two small guards already in the SL. And why was Redick the only guy to go on Orlando? Afflalo, Nelson, Harrington even Big Baby are all decent rotation players that must have SOME value and will only hurt Orlando’s chances in the lottery.

As far as K-Mart goes, he’s another guy who’s perpetually hurt and old. I guess, statistically, you put enough of those guys together, and one of them will probably be healthy come the playoffs. He’s a good man and team defense guy, but he’s a BAD rebounder, who was really bad in that department last season, and he’s another guy whose likely to show rust, especially on the offensive end (where he already had a pretty steep drop off last season).

I really would have preferred to see the Knicks go after a true center. I guess you can always waive Wallace later in the season if he doesn’t get healthy (something that seems very likely) or just let K-Mart go and add a D-leaguer… Sure, vs. Miami and Boston, K-Mart is the better option, but against Indiana and Chicago, a K-Mart/Stoudemire lineup will get blitzed on the boards. But it’s definitely a better move than nothing. I just don’t see it as much of a difference-making move, but we knew NY didn’t have the assets to add a piece without dismantling the core players, and we knew management wasn’t willing to do that.

max fisher-cohen: I can’t believe the Lakers stayed put, and that Bucks trade — why do the Bucks want Redick? Of all teams to go after him, the Bucks are probably the least well-suited to play him with two small guards already in the SL. And why was Redick the only guy to go on Orlando? Afflalo, Nelson, Harrington even Big Baby are all decent rotation players that must have SOME value and will only hurt Orlando’s chances in the lottery.As far as K-Mart goes, he’s another guy who’s perpetually hurt and old. I guess, statistically, you put enough of those guys together, and one of them will probably be healthy come the playoffs. He’s a good man and team defense guy, but he’s a BAD rebounder, who was really bad in that department last season, and he’s another guy whose likely to show rust, especially on the offensive end (where he already had a pretty steep drop off last season).I really would have preferred to see the Knicks go after a true center. I guess you can always waive Wallace later in the season if he doesn’t get healthy (something that seems very likely) or just let K-Mart go and add a D-leaguer… Sure, vs. Miami and Boston, K-Mart is the better option, but against Indiana and Chicago, a K-Mart/Stoudemire lineup will get blitzed on the boards. But it’s definitely a better move than nothing.

It’s interesting that people are still concerned about rebounding when the Knicks are second in the league in defensive rebound rate and have played most of the season without a true power forward.

A full-effort Martin playing alongside a full-effort Chandler should be a pretty good security blanket in the playoffs.

jon abbey: yes, if that is the case, they should be in pretty good shape up front, but sadly their guards all seem to be pretty much worthless currently.

yes, I agree, the guards have been basically atrocious the last 2 1/2 months.

But I’d bet heavily that they’ll shoot better from here on out than they have up to this point. It would be really challenging not to, even given career numbers.

But, the reason I kind of think this stretch of foul play is a good things is because it’s forcing the Knicks to rediscover their old defensive identity.

I actually thought the Knicks had better defensive intensity in their last two games than they had during their best stretches.

It was the Knicks offense that played the biggest role in Indiana’s anamolous offensive game, along with one of the more tightly officiated first halves you’ll ever see, and of course some great shooting.

You watch, the Knicks will be an excellent defensive team (stastically) in the final 20-30 games. You can already see it taking shape, and you bring along these three good defensive big men…..

Don’t wanna sound like a downer but if there was really a shot at J O’Neal wouldn’t he be a better fit? Not knockin Kenyon because hopefully our defense and energy. But seein as right now I don’t expect much out of Camby an Sheed the rest of the way (maybe I’m not the only one), wouldn’t a rejuvenated an healthier 6’11” guy fit better than an oft injured 6’9″ 35 year old? Still I think inking Martin is a solid move. To me it says expect a lot more small ball. Our toughest competition in the east either have no size (Miami) or a lot (Chicago, Indy, and possibly Boston). Well Boston doesn’t have a ton of size but they have some. And I wonder what Martin has in him right now..at least we’ve seen O’Neal this year. Then again there wasn’t really a guarantee that Phoenix was gonna buy him out. As for Brew..I really hoped he would regain his early season form.
Lol I just thought of somethin..we now have THREE microfracture surgery patients on the roster..wow

The nice thing about Martin is he fits better alongside Chandler than Camby or Sheed (or J O’Neal) on the defensive end- at least if he’s got anything left in the tank. He’s a decent fit alongside Amar’e in the second unit who might be able to pay some dividends with the first unit as well- especially in late-game situations against teams with active fours. Of course, he could turn out to be just another suit on the bench but worth the gamble I think- there’s just too many veterans on this team (and too many guys who’ve played with him already) for him to have much of a negative impact with his craziness.

nicos: The nice thing about Martin is he fits better alongside Chandler than Camby or Sheed (or J O’Neal) on the defensive end- at least if he’s got anything left in the tank. He’s a decent fit alongside Amar’e in the second unit who might be able to pay some dividends with the first unit as well- especially in late-game situations against teams with active fours. Of course, he could turn out to be just another suit on the bench but worth the gamble I think- there’s just too many veterans on this team (and too many guys who’ve played with him already) for him to have much of a negative impact with his craziness.

Martin is a freak of nature athlete that can maintain 5 percent body fat regardless of what he does working out/diet (or so says Steve Hess).

Clearly what he did last May should be a pretty good indication that he’ll be fine.

He did wear down in ’11 because of pretty significant minute burden, but he’s always been best in shorter spurts where his energy, athleticism and strength can be used to full effect.

Kiki Vandeweghe used to call Kenyon, “wolverine,” as corny as that was, basically he has freakish core strength for a guy as underized as he is, can root out guys much larger (Andrew Bynum, Howard, he used to give Yao Ming fits).

When he’s 30-35 minute player teams will take advantage of him with bigger matchups. I’ve always felt that a 15-20 minute bench role maximizes his strenghts.

flossy: 19
flossy
February 21, 2013 at 9:56 pm
ruruland: I actually thought the Knicks had better defensive intensity in their last two games than they had during their best stretches.
Have you blocked last night’s game from your memory?

BigBlueAL:
If you show great defensive intensity and give up 125 pts including 74 in the 1st half then you are in big trouble.

I think he is refereing to the 1st 8 min when the intensity was their but the O was not and then foul trouble coupled with bad offense and you get a snow ball effect. Problem is they think they can play in spurts like they did earlier. They must play a full 48 to be elite.

Absolutely not. Just as I’ve mentioned poor defensive effort and simple lack of shot making by opponents as warning signs in Knicks wins, I think there were actually plenty of very solid defensive possessions and good defensive intensity for much of last night’s game.

There were a couple of instances were a Knicks player got caught behind a (moving) screen, or missed a cutter, but generally, the Knicks played with very good defensive energy.

In fact, it was their over-agression that led to 29 first half free-throws. Now, just like 95 % of the time the opponent is not going to have an A+ shooting game, they’re not going to have one in combination with a really tight whistle, catching the officials surprised with its playoff level intensity.

In combination with one of the worst shooting nights of the year, the Knicks created the opportunity for a front-running team to front-run, play relaxed and with a ton of energy.

That’s the recipe for a blowout in this instance.

Let’s also remember that much of the Pacers’ offensive success was attributable to poor Knicks offense, which created 26 fastbreak points and much more in semi-transition, the two areas where the Pacers are actually pretty good offensively (they were way above their heads in the half-court given the defense last night).

My biggest concern from last night and recently is finding balance in the offense when the Knicks trail. Teams have made huge runs on the Knicks because they press some when they’re down or aren’t getting baskets.

Some of that is just slumps from Melo and Amar’e, however. Both guys who can calm the waters by making shots outside of continuity offense.

yellowboy90: I think he is refereing to the 1st 8 min when the intensity was their but the O was not and then foul trouble coupled with bad offense and you get a snow ball effect. Problem is they think they can play in spurts like they did earlier. They must play a full 48 to be elite.

Admittedly I didnt see 1 minute of the game last night but honestly you give up 74 pts in the 1st half and I dont care how it looked for the first 8 mins of the game there is absolutely nothing positive to take from that game defensively.

I like ruru’s posts and enjoy reading most of his analysis but there are times where he has to just let it go and not try to put a positive spin on everything cause it just looks bad lol. A game like last night you just forget about it and move on, there is no way in hell you try to actually take something positive from it.

BigBlueAL: Admittedly I didnt see 1 minute of the game last night but honestly you give up 74 pts in the 1st half and I dont care how it looked for the first 8 mins of the game there is absolutely nothing positive to take from that game defensively.I like ruru’s posts and enjoy reading most of his analysis but there are times where he has to just let it go and not try to put a positive spin on everything cause it just looks bad lol. A game like last night you just forget about it and move on, there is no way in hell you try to actually take something positive from it.

Let me ask you this, in football if a team gives up 30+ points, but yields a special teams touchdowns and the opponent gets a bunch of pass interference calls and short fields, but otherwise had a really good pass rush and held the team to low yards per carry, which of these facts would best serve as future indicators?

Sorry, but I have literally never seen so many wiiide-open threes in my life as I did last night. Any opponent will have an A+ shooting night if you let them have endless open shots. The rotations and close-outs on shooters and transition defense were seriously horrendous. They did not have good defensive energy just because they got angry.

ruruland: Let me ask you this, in football if a team gives up 30+ points, but yields a special teams touchdowns and the opponent gets a bunch of pass interference calls and short fields, but otherwise had a really good pass rush and held the team to low yards per carry, which of these facts would best serve as future indicators?

I’m sorry but we gave up around 60% from both the field in general and from 3 in the first half (after which the game was over) on top of committing a ton of fouls. That’s not just a few unlucky plays and bad calls.

ruruland: Let me ask you this, in football if a team gives up 30+ points, but yields a special teams touchdowns and the opponent gets a bunch of pass interference calls and short fields, but otherwise had a really good pass rush and held the team to low yards per carry, which of these facts would best serve as future indicators?

I think you’re being a little kind here. That was an ugly gme not just because if a bunch of fluky things. They were outplayed in every facet. This is like the jets and patriots on thanksgiving – sure there was a buttfumble and that crazy bounce on the fumbled kickoff, but it was a disaster in every phase.

ruruland: Let me ask you this, in football if a team gives up 30+ points, but yields a special teams touchdowns and the opponent gets a bunch of pass interference calls and short fields, but otherwise had a really good pass rush and held the team to low yards per carry, which of these facts would best serve as future indicators?

Its pretty obvious that we will never agree about the Knicks defense. They are still 26th in opponents eFG% and not long ago I posted an article which mentioned they have allowed the 2nd most uncontested jumpshots in the NBA. Watching them play defense for the most part makes me wanna pull my hair out.

I appreciate your optimism but you will never convince me that their defense is on the verge of going on some amazing run.

The thing is I dont think the Knicks have to be a great, Top 5 defensive team. All I want is for them to at least be league average or slightly above league average for the rest of the season which is certainly possible. Of course it would also help if the offense gets back on track but at least they are still 3rd in offensive efficiency compared to 19th defensively.

I have to say that ruruland has a point. The Knicks offense was much worse than their defense last night. So many points came off of turnovers, it was appalling. A better offense and it would have been a much closer game and maybe they wouldn’t have lost their cool either. But, the fouls they committed weren’t all desperation fouls because of a turnover and, when shown in replay, they generally looked like legit fouls. So the fouling definitely hurt them and can’t be blamed on lousy offense.

BigBlueAL: Its pretty obvious that we will never agree about the Knicks defense. They are still 26th in opponents eFG% and not long ago I posted an article which mentioned they have allowed the 2nd most uncontested jumpshots in the NBA. Watching them play defense for the most part makes me wanna pull my hair out. I appreciate your optimism but you will never convince me that their defense is on the verge of going on some amazing run.

the jump shot thing doesn’t surprise me much. I’m not claiming the Knicks have played good defense this year, btw.

so we’re combining the 2003 Nets (Kidd/Martin) with the 2009 Nuggets (Melo/JR/Martin) with the 2011 Mavs (Chandler/Kidd), who combined to win 40 playoff games in those three seasons, and that’s not even counting all the playoff experience/series wins from Sheed/Amar’e/Camby. if only a few of our guards would show any signs of life or competence, I might begin to believe again.

yellowboy90:
Did Camby play with Felton and Thomas on the Blazers? If so that’s another trio. Cross that with the AA game connection of Amar’e, Felton, and Melo. Some where in there you might find Kevin Bacon.

the three teams I picked were actually good though, one champion, one 4-2 loser in the Finals and one 4-2 loser in the WCF. Camby wasn’t on that edition of the Nuggets, Novak was actually on the 2011 Mavs for the first part of the season before going to the Spurs and missing the title run.

jon abbey:
the three teams I picked were actually good though, one champion, one 4-2 loser in the Finals and one 4-2 loser in the WCF. Camby wasn’t on that edition of the Nuggets, Novak was actually on the 2011 Mavs for the first part of the season before going to the Spurs and missing the title run.

Camby wasn’t on that team? Damn, my memory isn’t working. Makes sense though I remember now the defense improved after getting rid of Camby.

Ugh. I mean, whatever, Mohammed eventually got them the draft pick that became David Lee, but dang, Van Horn and Marbury were playing so well together and they broke that pairing up for no good reason.

When Martin entered the league, the Knicks were a few weeks removed from the NBA finals. (Yes, it was a long time ago).

And when Jason Kidd entered the league, the Knicks were also a few weeks removed from the NBA finals. (Yes, it was a loooong time ago).

Ironically, the 1998 knicks were the previous Oldest NBA Team Ever. That summer Grunfeld traded Oakley for Camby in an effort to get younger. 15 years later Grunwald trades 3 guys on rookie contracts for Camby in an effort to get older. (1998 never looked so good!)

KnickfaninNJ: And one who get’s into unreasonable rages.Unfortunately, that reminds of some recent articlesby Bill Simmons about things he has been thinking about athletes but not saying, if you know what I mean.

I would be floored if <50% of the league wasn't on some sort of PED. Seriously. So Kenyon would just be part of a big club.

KnickfaninNJ: And one who get’s into unreasonable rages.Unfortunately, that reminds of some recent articlesby Bill Simmons about things he has been thinking about athletes but not saying, if you know what I mean.

No, Martin would be one of the last guys on illicit peds. The story has always gone that his rage stems from being bullied as a child with a speech impediment.

The bottom line is that the NBA is filled with 99th percentile athletes, and among the group there are, idk, maybe 50-100 guys that are on a different plane than the rest of humanity.

Iverson was another guy who could maintain 4-5 % body fat, eat whatever he wanted, stay up, drink all night, and score 50 on a couple hours of sleep.

Basketball is largely a game of skill and athleticism. You don’t see players getting a lot stronger. It would be much more difficult to hide the side effects of peds in basketball than it is in football and baseball, two sports where peds actually make sense.

Basketball is largely a game of skill and athleticism.You don’t see players getting a lot stronger. It would be much more difficult to hide the side effects of peds in basketball than it is in football and baseball, two sports where peds actually make sense.

Ruru you could say the same about hitting a baseball which is frequently (rightly or wrongly) referred to as “the hardest thing in sports” Essentially basketball much like tennis and track involves a lot of running and jumping. I don’t think anyone disputes that sprinting and PED use are common. And if you follow the Operation Puerto news in Spain it was only the cyclists that were named even though there were athletes from other sports involved. cough cough Nadal and real Madrid.

Nick C.: Ruru you could say the same about hitting a baseball which is frequently (rightly or wrongly) referred to as “the hardest thing in sports”Essentially basketball much like tennis and track involves a lot of running and jumping. I don’t think anyone disputes that sprinting and PED use are common. And if you follow the Operation Puerto news in Spain it was only the cyclists that were named even though there were athletes from other sports involved. cough cough Nadal and real Madrid.

I suppose. It’s just my personal belief that’s its far less pervasive in basketball. I think we need a few documented cases before we start speculating on the “average player.”